Coffee ceremonies and safe motherhood in Amhara, Ethiopia

In Ethiopia, coffee is at the very centre of cultural and social life. Coffee ceremonies play a ritual, spiritual and communal role within the fabric of communities and are an important tradition to celebrate life events.

As in the rest of life, coffee plays a critical role in birth.  As a cornerstone of Ethiopian birth traditions, coffee ceremonies are preformed to welcome the safe and healthy arrival of a new baby. The splitting of coffee beans is said to denote childbirth.

 At the health centre, in rural Amhara, Ataklit, a carer at the health centre, prepares a coffee ceremony for friends and families to gathered as they await the safe arrival of a new baby.

Ataklit starts by spreading fresh, aromatic grasses and flowers. She then prepares to roast the raw coffee beans on a bed of hot charcoals.

As the beans roast, the savoury aroma fills the air, drawing in all those who gathered in celebration.

Next, she hand grinds the beans and waits for the coffee to steep in the Jebena – a traditional Ethiopian coffee pot.  When the coffee is dark and strong, Serpik serves short sweet cups to all who are awaiting the good news.

In Amhara’s most remote areas, many health centres cannot offer clients a coffee ceremony due to a lack of resources, but the tradition is so important to women and their families that many will opt to give birth at home, without access to a skilled birth attendant, rather than forego this tradition.

Understanding the importance of this coffee ceremonies, our project, Labour at the Last Mile, works closely with community champions to mobilise local resource to support coffee ceremonies at health centres.

Today, 50% more health centres we work with offer coffee ceremonies and more women are attending the health centre to give birth.

 A new partnership.

Our new partner, Essina Wholefoods, is committed to supporting local communities through the importance of food, coffee and tradition. Our new brand partnership will help promote maternal nutrition as part of our Labour at the Last Mile project in Amhara, Ethiopia. Together with Essina, we will promote digital health information, particularly to improve awareness of the importance of food and nutrition in pregnancy.

SafeHands’ Executive Director, Erica Belanger, welcomed the new collaboration with Essina, saying “Food is such an important source of tradition and nutrition in pregnancy and birth. We are delighted to work together with Essina to improve the health and lives of new mothers.”

Samale Nur from Essina Wholefoods said “Our brand's vision is to live by the Ubuntu philosophy by serving others and contributing to the good of communities and the world. We are pleased to partner with SafeHands and to make a positive impact towards quality maternal care, well-being and nutrition for mothers and newborn in Ethiopia"

 From now until December 2022, Essina Wholefoods will donate 5% of their sales on their website www.essinawholefoods.co.uk to support maternal and newborn nutrition through our project. Please visit their range of Fair-Trade cashews and support maternal nutrition in Ethiopia today.